USA Coast to Coast
The United States have a lot going on, so of course, you should be tailoring your coast-to-coast journey according to your own interests: whether you’re really into history, films, science, or whatever else. Our USA Coast-to-Coast trip will take a particularly literary and arts tinge, so hire a car, and get On The Road!
Though driving might not be very fuel-efficient, neither is America, and there’s really no better way to get across the country. Cram as many friends as you can into your car and split the fuel cost. Hertz is our recommended hire company, as they will let you drive west and leave your car there without an extra fee.
Of course, you’ve got to start your trip in the Big Apple: New York City. Allow yourself plenty of time here, because there’s far too much to see. Of course there are the obvious attractions: the Empire State Building, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Central Park, and Ground Zero. But New York has also been the centre of the creative world for over 100 years. We suggest visiting the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Met. Swing by the Chelsea Hotel, where artists including Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, Patti Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, Allen Ginsberg, Dylan Thomas and Sid Vicious lived and worked. Get a Citibike, and explore Greenwich Village. While you’re there, be sure to check out the White Horse Tavern, where writers Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas, Norman Mailer and Hunter S. Thompson once drank, and the Café Wha? which boasts by-gone acts from Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Velvet Underground, to name a few. Take a book or a sketchpad and sit in Washington Square for some good people watching. This has been the site of famous rallies and a central hub for the 20th century artists, musicians and writers of Greenwich Village.
After New York, we start the real-deal road tripping, heading west. First up, drive for 12 hours to Chicago, Illinois. If you’re willing to add 40 miles to the trip, divert to Hummelstown to explore the Indian Echo Caves, which were once a base for the Susquehannock Indians. Clearfield is also along the way, where you can visit the Community Museum, displaying 60 classic and antique cars, and eat the World’s Largest Burger: it doesn’t get more American than that. The “Beer Barrel Belly Buster” is basically the size of a wedding cake, and if you can eat it in less than 3 hours, you get your money back. Cleveland is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so you might like to stop in there. Toledo has an excellent art gallery, with works by Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Mondrian and Cornell, to name a few.
In Chicago, visit the Art Institute, the Adler Planetarium, and the Sears Tower, where you can look out at the city from the 99th floor. Lake Michigan is quite a sight, whether it’s summer, and you fancy a swim, or winter, when there are free ice rinks. There are some excellent bars in Chicago, some of which date back to the 1920’s era of prohibitions and speakeasies. The Green Mill, the Berghoff, the Coq D’Or and The Pump Room rate among the best. From Chicago it’s also easy to visit Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace and musem at Oak Park. If you visit on his birthday weekend (17th July), you can engage in the annual celebrations.
Begin Historic Route 66 in Chicago at Lake Shore Drive, and drive for 5 hours to Belleville, near St Louis. There are a lot of weird and wonderful things to see alongside route 66: to get an idea, check out this list.
From Belleville you can divert to Mark Twain National Park, named after the beloved author of Huckleberry Finn, which has a number of important cultural and natural features, and good hiking, camping or cycling. Of particular beauty is Greer Spring, with its crystal blue water. You might want to take a rest at Kansas City, and visit the Kansas City Public Library, with its giant versions of literary classics.
From Kansas City to our next major stop, Denver, it’s 9 hours. Along the way you might want to stop in at the OZ Museum in Wamego, for all things Wizard of Oz. There’s no place like Kansas, after all. Another interesting stop would be Holcomb, the setting of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. This is a real dustbowl town, and you can go to the house where the murders actually happened.
Next up: Denver, Colorado, the home of Neil Cassady, who the central character Dean Moriarty was based off, in Kerouac’s On the Road. You’ve got to visit My Brother’s Bar, where you can get your hands on a copy of a letter handwritten by Cassady, begging a friend to cover his bar tab.
Jazz music is important to Denver’s identity, so try to catch a gig in the Five Points district if you can, where Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and others once played.
Since Denver is in Colorado, medical marijuana is legal, and so visitors can purchase and possess one ounce for personal use. A number of dispensaries have since opened up, so it isn’t hard to come by, but it’s a good idea to check up on the state’s laws before you go for it.
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science comes complete with an IMAX theatre, and has wonderful interactive exhibits. It’s a great place to learn about the surrounding environment.
From Denver it is easy to visit the many natural wonders in Colorado, including Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods (2 hours from Denver, both within an hour’s drive of each other), and Rocky Mountain National park, a two-hour drive from the city.
Then we head to Las Vegas. It’s a 4-hour drive straight from Denvery, but you might like to make a few stops along the way. Pass through Aspen, where Hunter S Thompson, the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, lived and died on his ranch, “Owl Farm”. There is talk of the house soon being opened to the public for tours. Aspen is also a great place for skiing in winter, and hiking during the warmer months. The John Denver sanctuary is nearby, and Independence Pass is a beautiful place to drive through: if you’re keen, take a dip in the Devil’s Punchbowl!
Before you leave Colorado you might also like to visit the Black Canyon, a deep chasm running through Gunnison National Park. Mesa Verde National Park is slightly out of the way, but is an archaeological site worth visiting, with 600 cliff dwellings built by the Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived there from 600-1300 AD.
After a drive across the Mojave Desert, we arrive in the city of sin, Las Vegas. Of course you’ll want to put some money aside for your trip here, so that you can go in for the real all-neon, all-singing, all-dancing Vegas experience. There’s more to these casinos than just gambling, of course: each has its own elaborate interior décor, and the people-watching in these places is magnificent. Head for the Fremont Street Experience at dusk for the nightly light and sound show. Fremont Street is home to the Golden Gate hotel and casion, which is the oldest remaining casino in Vegas. Adventuredome is a giant, indoor theme park inside Circus Circus, ideal for thrill-seekers.Take a dip at the Encore Beach Club, which looks out over the Strip. Head to the Las Vegas Arts District to catch First Friday, a monthly festival of the city’s arts, music, food and more. The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum are also worth a visit. From Las Vegas it’s easy to make a day trip out to the Grand Canyon, which no America trip would be complete without.
Next up, we head for Los Angeles. It’s about a four-hour drive from Vegas. In star-studded LA you can visit the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, Disneyland, and Madame Tussauds. Visit the Sunset Strip, where bands like the Doors and Led Zeppelin played at the Whiskey A Go Go and the Roxy, which are still there today. Check which bands are playing while you’re in LA, because many of today’s best musicians frequently headline in this town. Visit Venice Beach and Santa Monica to soak up the sun, and get into California’s surf and skate culture.
From Los Angeles it is also an easy day trip to visit Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park, and Salvation Mountain, which are about three hours away from the city.
From LA we head up the West Coast, to Big Sur, which takes about 6 hours to reach. Big Sur has breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, and the winding 2-lane State Route 1 is infamous for its twists and turns along the rugged cliffs. It was the retreat of many an author: Jack London and Henry Miller hid away here, as did Jeffers, Weston, Brautigan, Thompson and Kerouac. This is an excellent place to relax after the madness of Vegas and LA, and get back to nature. Visit Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, and the terrifying Bixby Bridge.
Then we make the last leg of our trip, up to San Francisco. You might want to sidestep to Jack London State Historical Park, or Yosemite National Park along the way for some camping and hiking. Otherwise, it is a three-hour drive to the Bay Area. In San Fran, visit Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and take the signature cable cars up and down the sloping hills. Other notable attractions include the De Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences (which includes a planetarium, an aquarium, an indoor rainforest and more) and of course, SFMOMA, with its extensive collection of contemporary art. From San Francisco it is easy to visit Muir Woods national monument, just across the Golden Gate Bridge. This area of old-growth coastal redwood forest has been preserved and named after environmentalist John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, and part of a group of naturalist authors that included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Jack London. San Francisco is something of a counter-culture pilgrimage spot, so be sure to visit Haight-Ashbury, and Hippie Hill at Golden Gate Park. San Francisco has a vibrant nightlife, too: check out The Rickshaw Stop, and the Knockout.
